Saturday, July 10, 2010

We often say that technology is more a pain than it is worth, but yesterday I was pleasantly surprised, when it does work how it all comes together so well. I landed in Bangalore to attend my cousins wedding reception. I’ve never stepped foot in this city before. Yet when it came to finding the hotel where my relatives were holed up in, and my taxi driver was clueless, I managed to direct with aplomb and a little thing from apple – my trusty iPhone.

As we are speaking about iPhones, I have been trying out the new iOS4 which definitely has given some much needed features to the phone. The most used being the multi task, task bar and the inbuilt dictionary. But back to the point in hand. What is impressive is that even BTRAC bus stops are accurately marked on Google Maps. Things like a small church by the wayside were all marked on Google Maps. We have definitely come a long way since the initial days of cartography.

We have come to take Google Maps, like almost everything else from Google for granted but if we were to sit down and try to understand how the big picture, I am sure like everything else in life, it is highly complex. I mean, I could stand anywhere on the planet and get information in the palm of my hand accurate to a few feet. It is a safety line for a person who is infamous for having a bad sense of direction. What would be our life be like without Google in it. That’s a scary thought. The net would truly be a different place. Ironically it seems just yesterday that I sat in a certain cabin in the Motorola office and explored the internet for the first time, with my sister dolefully keeping me company as I was introduced to Yahoo on a Netscape browser. Yet today the net and my life has taken such leaps and bounds that those days could be another lifetime.

Before setting out on the trip my dad was contemplating taking his netbook, but mum convinced him otherwise. What is surprising is that when we landed at the SBI guest house we were surprised to find that it came fully equipped with an internet connection and nice LCD tv. The tech thrills of today. What more can a guy ask for. The computer was definitely something unexpected. I mean you don’t find a full fledged PC in most 3-star hotels, you are expected to carry your laptop to a 5-Star hotel. Truly, we are truly slaves to technology but I enjoy every minute of it.

One wonders if technology is making us try to make the best of every minute. Have we stopped just relaxing and taking it easy. Enjoying the ride for what it is and not worrying about getting to the destination. The joke is that though we seem so time poor, even by using these devices I don’t feel time rich. I guess its all about us at the end of the day. You know what they say about the grass after all.